Safety inside vehicle door latch actuator



Nov. 22, 1949 A. s. MARTIN SAFETY INSIDE VEHICLE DOOR LATCH ACTUATOR 22m 71/ 77747fi70, MAE/WEE,-

Original Filed Oct. 22, .l945

By his 07701' 72 6:

Patented Nov. 22, 1949 UNIT ED STAT ES PATENT -OFFICE SAFETY INSIDE: VEHICLE: DOOR-LATCH ACTUATOR! 7 Arthur Seymon-Martin; Santa'Ana, Calif.

Continuation of abandoned application. Serial No. 507,343, October 22,.1943.. This-application c.- tober 23; 1945,, Serial No..6 23,9-18

This invention is a safety, inside, vehicular door latch. actuator.

% It is a prime object of this invention to provide a. deviceof this class 'of. the utmost simplicity, low cost of manufacture and low selling price, with the objectv in view of helping to overcome trade resistance, bearing in mind the fact that the new actuator is, on the one side, to be offered to the trade as a door latch actuator to be applied to the door latch shaft asa substitute for use in place of the original actuator, While on the other side, it may beembodiedi in the original latch assembly at factory.

It is well known that indiscreet young children and irresponsible elders will often deliberately open the rear'd'oor ofi-aniautomobile. while it is in motion with the consequence that one or more children may be thrown or may tumbleout of the vehicle, with injurious results to themselves as well, as setting up a considerable traflic hazard. Again, such rear doors maybe suddenly unlat'ched, by the lurching of an occupant oflthe rear compartment against the usually elongate lever of latching mechanism of a door, the opening of which can easily result in injuries and property damage. In view of the just mentioned possibilities it is an object of the invention to provide a safety actuator hub which cannot be motivated by reaction of a tumbling body, animate or inanimate. And in this connection it is a special object of the invention to provide a vehicular door latch hub element expressly designed of diametrical dimension and body shape such as not to be turnable by a young child of average strength but which on the contrary can be operated by the average adult to overcome the resistance of the usual latch spring provided in the doors of vehicles, especially automobiles; this hub being of a non-extension-lever character. 7

At the same time it is an object of the invention to provide with a hub of this safety type a readily applicable and as readily removable extension lever which may be a normal part of the actuator until such times when the driver of the vehicle deems it desirable instantly to revert the actuator to a leverless condition, as when irresponsible beings or hazardous loads may be in the rear compartment. And a feature of the assembly of hub and handle (as the extension will be hereinafter called) is an anti-rattling structural embodiment.

This invention consists in certain advancements in this art as set forth in the ensuing disclosure and having, with the above, additional objects and advantages as hereinafter developed,

2 Claims. (Cl. 292 34 and whose constructions, combinations: and sub-' combinations, and details of means, and? the manner of operation willv be made: manifest in the following description of the herewith illustrative embodiment; it being understood that modifications, variations" and adaptations may be re"- sorted to within the scope, spirit andprincip'le of the invention as it is. more directly claimed in the addendum. i 1

Figure 1 is a front. elevation of the actuator with its handle in idle, normal, ready position as for use by women and others not. ordinarily of sufficiently strong hand muscles readily to, turn the de-handled hub of: the actuator.,

Figure zis aside oredge elevation ofthe device with the handle'turned down to latch opening position.

Figurei3 is an axial section of the hubv per se;

Automobile door latches 2" are, generally provided with a substantial shankv 3 protruding in.- wardly" through the door D to a suflicient degree to detachably receive a relative handle, not here shown, and to interlock axially with the same by way of one or another of various detents not needed to be here shown, since well known in the art.

The instant invention involves an actuator, for the shank, which may be factory built into the door assembly of the latch, or may readily be substituted for the original handle device when so desired. This actuator consists of a more or less knob-like hub 5 having an axial socket 6 to fit snugly onto the given shank 3 and co-rotatively interlock therewith as by means of internal spline-teeth l. The hub 5 has a reduced boss 8 to fit turnably in a fixed face ring 9 on the inner face of the door and this boss is shown with a cross-slot ID as one way of detent interlock with the shank-only by way of example. A distinguishing feature of the hub 5 is that it has a major diameter of such limited dimension as to render it difficult of manual turning by a young normal-strength child through direct grip thereof, but at the same time a stronger person could, with a concentrated effort, effect the rotation of the hub and therefore of the latch shank 3. In other words the special size of the hub 5 affords a means by which a safety measure is provided for protecting children, and enables the latch to be pulled back by a hand sufliciently strong upon the knob-like hub, against the normal spring stress setting the latch.

Moreover, special provision is made for the ready operation of the hub, and latch controlled thereby, for women or others too weak to turn the to fit slidably into a through hole I2 preferably diametrically across the hub just beyond the end of the hub socket 6 so as to avoid the socket and yet be symmetrical in the hub. One end of the handle II has a bulbous head l3 to prevent total passage of the handle through the hub, when it is to be mounted therein for ordinary use as the latch working element of the assembly. Any suitable device may be used for holding steadily the handle II in the hub to avoid rattle of the handle while in place, and to that purpose the handle was a short conical neck [4 next to the head I 3 to engage frictionally in a, complementary nest 15 at the head end of the hub hole [2.

The member II, which may well be called the jury handle, is shown at a conventional ready angle in the hub 5 in Fig. 1, while Fig. 2 discloses the handle turned down about the hub axis to release the latch. To de-handle the actuator it is necessary only to press or pull out the lever from the hub, and the dismounted handle may then be kept by the driver or placed in a safe and convenient place in the drivers compartment.

The shape of the hub is preferably peripherally symmetrical-here cylindrical-to maintain a desired maxium leverage in and of itself as a moment about the shank axis, and a suitable diameter ranges around one to one and one-half inches. v

The handle II, when applied, may add some two to four inches more of leverage.

This application is a continuation of application Serial No. 507,343, filed October 22, 1943, now abandoned.

What is claimed is:

1. A knob for a door latch shank, and means .to facilitate turning of the knob and including an elongate handle enlarged on one end; said knob having a. through hole for readily sliding insertion and like removal of the handle, and the enlarged part of the handle having a wedging fit in the said hole to prevent rattle, said handle extending a substantial distance through the knob to provide leverage for turning the knob.

2. A vehicular door latch actuator including a rotative stem and means for rendering the door safe against hazardous opening from within the vehicle, said means including a knob fixed immovably on the stem and which is of a size to be difficult to turn for efiecting latch retraction, especially by children, the knob having a through hole, and a jury handle readily insertable endwise into the hole of the knob and being freely and easily removable from the knob, and the said handle having an upper enlarged part to seat on the upper end of the hole to prevent the inserted handle from dropping through the knob in normal position of the hole, the opposite end of the handle projecting a substantial distance through the knob.

ARTHUR SEYMON MARTIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 209,573 Matthews Nov. 5, 1878 1,399,167 Steuerwald Dec. 6, 1921 1,612,446 Larson Dec. 28, 1926 1,617,557 Weatherhead Feb. 15, 1927 1,764,487 Young June 17, 1930 

